The present invention relates to an improved flush controller for toilets and urinals.
Known metering valves for flushing toilets and urinals typically include a slow closing valve mechanism for delivering a metered volume of water to a fixture. This type of valve does not achieve precise control of the flow rate or volume. The result can be excessive water consumption and poor flushing performance. To overcome such problems, there have been efforts to directly measure and control water flow in flush controllers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,762 discloses a metered water control system for flush tanks including a water wheel turned by flow through a valve and a mechanical system including a gear and a notched cam for closing the valve after flow of a predetermined quantity of water.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,277 discloses a toilet flushing device including a flow rate sensor for detecting a flow rate that is compared with a programmed value read from memory. A flow rate control valve is operated in accordance with the comparison to provide a programmed flow rate pattern.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,556 discloses a metering valve including a flow turbine for measuring flow through an opened valve. Rotation of a turbine wheel is transmitted to a cam through a reducing gear assembly and a lost motion connection in order to close the valve after a predetermined flow volume.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,809 discloses a flush control valve assembly with a burst valve for providing a larger, siphoning flow and a bypass valve for providing a smaller, trap reseal flow. The duration and flow volume of the larger flow is determined by the characteristics of the burst valve components, and the duration and flow volume of the smaller flow are determined by a flow turbine, a gear assembly and a control mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,586 discloses a flushing device including a microprocessor for operating a single variable flow valve at varied flow rates to provide stepped variations in flow. Flow rate patterns including urinal and toilet flush patterns are stored in memory. Other microprocessor based flushing systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,508,510 and 5,769,120.
These prior art arrangements have not solved the problem of precise, adjustable flow control, particularly for siphon flush toilet applications where the fixture is supplied with an initial burst of water for siphon flushing and a subsequent low flow for trap reseal. It would be desirable to provide a flush controller that can accurately measure water flow and that can be precisely controlled to avoid unnecessary water consumption and to provide effective flushing action.
Known automated fixture flushing systems include the capability for sensing the presence of a user. The goal is to determine when use of the sanitary fixture has terminated so that the fixture can be flushed after use.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,793,588 and 4,805,247 disclose flush valve systems having an infra red sensor mechanisms including an infra red transmitter and an infra red receiver.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,250 discloses a flushing device with first and second infra red sensing systems. One of these systems detects the presence of a user at a sanitary fixture, and the other detects the presence of the hand of a user in a different region and permits the user to manually initiate a flush operation. A refracting element is used to bend the infra red beam a desired angle toward a toiler user region.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,309,781 discloses an automatic flushing system with an infra red light emitting diode light source and a photosensor. A lens system includes a lens angled to prevent false activation from reflective surfaces. Light reflected from the source to the photosensor by a proximate user for a preselected time results in initiation of a flush operation.
Performance of these known systems is inconsistent because the presence and amount of reflected light is dependent on extraneous factors such as reflection characteristics of different types of clothing and the like. Adjustment of sensitivity is necessary. Increased sensitivity can result in false readings, and reduced sensitivity can result in the failure to detect a user when present. It would be desirable to provide a flush controller having a user detection system that operates reliably despite reflectivity variations and that is able not only to detect but also to locate the position of a user.
Manual override of a flush controller has been recognized to be desirable. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,187,818 and 5,699,994 disclose flushing systems in which a water closet flushing operation can be initiated automatically as a result of sensing the presence of a user or manually by the user pressing a button. U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,558 discloses a flush valve that is normally operated by an electromagnetic valve and is manually operated in the event of a power failure.
It would be desirable to provide a flush controller with two distinct override modes integrated into a single control system so that a normal flush can be initiated manually or so that a high volume flush can be initiated in emergency conditions such as in the absence of electrical power.
Known metering flush controllers of the type including slow acting valve mechanisms can be configured to supply a urinal or a toilet by selecting specific components of the valve mechanism to provide the needed flow characteristic. Known valves of this type can be connected to a water supply at the right or the left side. Electronically operated systems have not had these capabilities. It would be desirable to provide a flush controller that can be configured by the selection, orientation and location of components for toilet or urinal applications with right or left water entry.
In brief, in accordance with the invention there is provided a flush controller for siphon flushing and resealing the trap of a sanitary fixture. The flush controller includes a housing having an inlet for connection to a water supply and an outlet for connection to the sanitary fixture. A control system includes a microprocessor mounted within the housing. A high flow path extends between the inlet and the outlet, and includes a high flow valve in the high flow path. A first electrical valve operator opens and closes the high flow valve. A low flow path extends between the inlet and the outlet, and includes a low flow valve in the low flow path. A second electrical valve operator opens and closes the low flow valve. The low and high flow paths have flow restrictions with a proportional relationship. A flow sensor in the low flow path measures flow in the low flow path and provides an output signal. Means are included for providing an initiation signal to the control system. The control system includes means for operating the first and second valve operators for opening both the high flow and low flow valves in response to the initiation signal in order to provide a siphon flush flow through the output port. The control system includes means for determining the volume of the siphon flow using the proportional relationship and the output signal, and for operating the first valve operator to close the high flow valve after a first predetermined siphon flow volume to provide a continuing trap reseal flow. The control system includes means for using the output signal to determine the volume of the trap reseal flow and for operating the second valve operator to close the low flow valve after a second predetermined trap reseal flow volume.
In brief, in accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of controlling a siphon flush flow and a trap reseal flow to a sanitary fixture. The method includes opening both a high flow valve and a low flow valve disposed in parallel high and low flow paths between a water supply and the sanitary fixture, sensing flow through the low flow path, determining the sum of the flows through the low and high flow paths using the sensed flow through the low flow path and using a proportional flow restriction relationship of the high and low flow paths; and closing the high flow valve when the sum of the flows through the low and high flow paths reach a volume equal to a desired siphon flush flow volume.
In brief, in accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided a flush controller for a sanitary fixture including a housing having an inlet for connection to a water supply and an outlet for connection to the sanitary fixture. A valve controls flow from the inlet to the outlet. A control system operative in response to an initiation signal opens the valve to initiate a flushing operation. A user sensing system detects the presence of a user of the sanitary fixture. The user sensing system includes a plurality of radiation emitters and a plurality of radiation detectors. Means connected to the detectors responds to radiation reflected by a user from the emitters to the detectors for providing the initiation signal. The emitters are aimed along discrete and spaced apart emission lines extending away from the housing. The detectors are also aimed along discrete and spaced apart detection lines extending away from the housing. Each of the emission lines intersects each of the detection lines.
In brief, in accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided a flush controller for a sanitary fixture including a housing having an inlet for connection to a water supply and an outlet for connection to the sanitary fixture. A valve controls flow from the inlet to the outlet. A user sensing system detects the presence of a user of the sanitary fixture and provides a flush initiation signal. A control system operative in response to the initiation signal opens the valve to initiate a flushing operation. An override control system includes a manually operable member, the manually operable member being mounted for movement from a normal, standby position to first and second different override positions. A sensing device in the housing detects movement of the manually operable member to the first override position and provides an override flush signal. The control system is operative in response to the override flush signal for opening the valve to initiate a flushing operation. The manually operable member is connected to the valve independently of the control system for opening the valve in response to movement of the manually operable member to the second override position.
In brief, in accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided a method for adapting a flush controller for toilet and urinal applications and for right or left water supply installations. The flush controller has a valve assembly including a valve body with a vertically extending outlet port and a horizontally extending inlet port and a low flow valve located at a first region of the valve assembly. A high flow valve receiving location is at a second region of the valve assembly, and a override switch receiving location is at a third region of the valve assembly. The low flow valve has a low flow valve electrical connector. The flush controller optionally has a high flow valve with a high flow valve electrical connector at the high flow valve receiving location and optionally has an override switch with a switch connector at the override switch receiving location. The flush controller further has an electrical circuit board including a plurality of electrical terminals arrayed at spaced locations over the surface of the circuit board. The method includes omitting the high flow valve for urinal applications and mounting the high flow valve at the high flow valve receiving location for toilet applications. The valve assembly is rotated around a vertical axis to point the inlet port either to the right or the left. The low flow valve electrical connector is connected to circuit board terminals adjacent the first region of the valve assembly and, if the high flow valve is present, then the high flow valve electrical connector is connected to circuit board terminals adjacent the second region of the valve assembly.